Sonia Andrade

Born in 1935 in Rio de Janeiro, Sonia Andrade was part of the first generation of video artists in Brazil, studying under Anna Bella Geiger. Her experimental videos use the body as central to her filmed actions often using scenes of self-aggression, humor, and political commentary to break down accepted visual codes. Andrade produced pioneering video work of critical weight in the 1970s during Brazil's dictatorship era (1964-1985), participating in Prospectiva 74 at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo – the first public exhibition of video art in Brazil – then in the International Biennale, which also took place there in 1977. Her most recent exhibition was in 2023 as part of Area Play at Silvia Cintra + Box4 in Rio de Janeiro. Some of her works are housed in public collections in Brazil and internationally at the Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles, USA), Haward Art Museum (Boston, USA) and Kunstgewerbemuseum (Zurich, Switzerland).